This fancy New Orleans public library was once a private mansion

There are public libraries and then there's the Milton H. Latter Memorial Library in New Orleans. This converted Italianate–beaux arts estate is set among other mansions, private ones, on the city's historic St. Charles Avenue.

Not too shabby, eh? photo by Rusty Blazenhoff

Delightfully it houses many of its original furnishings, including decor imported in the early 1900s like 'Czechoslovakian chandeliers, South American mahogany paneling, and Dutch murals.' — Read the rest